BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 30, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Blog: Austin Council's Special Called Meeting on COVID-19 (6.29.2020) (SUMMARY LINK)
Early Voting for the Travis County Democratic and Republican Primary Runoffs, and Special Elections begins today through Friday, July 10th.
BG Podcast Episode 96: First Month Wrap Up with Associate Intern Josh (SHOW LINK)
On today’s episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. downloads on Associate Intern Josh's first month with the firm.
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
City Of Austin will close all parks and recreational facilities over Fourth Of July weekend (KUT)
The City of Austin is closing all parks and recreational facilities over the Fourth of July weekend to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Parks, golf courses, tennis courts, boat ramps, recreational centers, museums and preserves will be closed Friday through Sunday. Any pre-paid admissions will be credited to the visitor’s account or refunded, the city says.
Barton Springs Pool and Deep Eddy Pool will be closed starting Tuesday until further notice. Austin Public Health recommended the pools close and will be evaluating both facilities, the city says.
The weekend’s closures were prompted by an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Travis County has seen its highest days of new cases in the past two days — 636 on Sunday and 508 on Monday.
Travis County is also closing all of its parks over the weekend, starting Thursday at 8 p.m. until next Tuesday at 8 a.m. If the threat of COVID-19 continues to rise, the county says parks could remain closed for longer… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin homebuilders group hires new chief executive (Austin Business Journal)
There's new leadership atop the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin.
In an email to members, HBA announced it has hired Taylor Jackson as CEO. Jackson's first day at HBA was June 29, and she will be thrown into a housing market that's among the hottest in the U.S. — even during the pandemic — and one that is also facing big issues such as Austin's revamp of zoning rules citywide.
Jackson previously was senior director of organizational development for Goodwill Central Texas. Before that, she worked at the Austin Apartment Association for about 10 years in business development, membership engagement and education roles.
"We chose Taylor because of her exceptional qualifications, enthusiasm and work ethic," Joe Fowler, JHF Homes principal and HBA board president, said in a statement. "We are excited to have her."
Jackson said she was looking forward to working with the HBA board, staff and members, which are homebuilders, remodelers and designers.
"My ultimate goal is to ensure that the mission of the HBA - to advance the practice and professionalism of the home building industry in our community - remains at the forefront of everything we do," she said in a statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
'An Exercise In Trust': UT Austin plans to reopen dorms and dining halls, offer in-person classes (KUT)
UT Austin students will have the choice of attending classes in person, taking them online or doing a combination when campus reopens in August, the university announced Monday. Residence halls, dining halls, student centers, the union and recreation centers will be open.
Under the university's plan, students living in dorms will still have roommates, but will be required to wear masks in common areas. Students will be able to cancel their residence fees if they choose to stay home and do digital learning.
Students and staff will be required to wear masks inside campus buildings, unless alone in a private office or when eating in a dining facility.
During a virtual press conference Monday, administrators said they could enact penalties for people who don’t follow these rules, but said they’d prefer students to just keep safety a priority.
“Part of this is an exercise in trust," interim President Jay Hartzell said. "We’re entrusting that our students will be able to do the right things as we go forward.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas city and county leaders ask Gov. Greg Abbott for authority to implement local stay-at-home orders (Texas Tribune)
As Texas grapples with soaring coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, local elected officials in some of the state’s most populous counties are asking Gov. Greg Abbott to roll back business reopenings and allow them to reinstate stay-at-home orders for their communities in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
Officials in Harris, Bexar, Dallas and Travis counties have either called on or reached out to the governor in recent days, expressing a desire to implement local restrictions for their regions and, in some cases, stressing concerns about hospital capacity.
Local governments across the state implemented stay-at-home orders, which generally direct businesses deemed nonessential to shut down, to varying degrees in March before the governor issued a statewide directive at the beginning of April. Abbott’s stay-at-home order expired at the end of April, when he began announcing phased reopenings in the state and forcing local governments to follow his lead. Since then, a number of local officials, many of whom have been critical of Abbott’s reopening timeline, have argued that the jurisdiction to reinstate such directives is no longer in their hands.
“If you are not willing to take these actions on behalf of the state, please roll back your restriction on local leaders being able to take these swift actions to safeguard the health of our communities,” Sam Biscoe, interim Travis County judge, wrote in a letter to Abbott on Monday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Frisco firm eked out victory for Texas COVID contact tracing deal, records show (Dallas Morning News)
A small Frisco company narrowly bested a consulting behemoth to win a $295 million contract to coordinate the state coronavirus contact tracing efforts, newly released documents show.
Ultimately, Accenture and MTX Group tied in the scoring process with 87 points each. The state went with MTX Group due to its cost proposal, which was $15 million lower.
Texas lawmakers have questioned why the hastily awarded contract went to the relatively unknown MTX Group over major government contractors, including Accenture, IBM and AT&T.
The job is critical to the state’s plan to contain COVID-19, which has surged to record levels in Texas over the past few weeks. Contact tracers track down people who may be infected with the virus and urge them to stay quarantined to help stop the spread.
Accenture declined to comment and is not contesting the award, spokesman Joe Dickie said.
State officials that reviewed the 11 proposals seemed to raise concerns about MTX Group’s ability to staff a call center, but were pleased with the company’s promise to go live within seven to 10 days, records show.
The company — led by a chief executive with lofty plans to buy the Dallas Cowboys — received the highest marks on its technical proposal, ramp-up timeline and ability to integrate multiple workforces.
Officials noted MTX Group has past health department experience outside Texas and launched a call center in New York City. However, it’s not clear what kind of vetting the company went through to win the nod in Austin… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
More than 30 Texas bars sue over Gov. Greg Abbott's recent shutdown order (Texas Tribune)
Hoping to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s Friday decision ordering Texas bars to close due to a rise in coronavirus cases, more than 30 bar owners filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Abbott’s emergency order.
The lawsuit, first reported by the Austin American-Statesman, was filed in Travis County District Court by Jared Woodfill, a Houston attorney who has led previous legal efforts opposing Abbott’s other shutdown orders during the pandemic.
“Why does he continue unilaterally acting like a king?” Woodfill, former chair of the Harris County Republican Party, said of Abbott in an interview. “He’s sentencing bar owners to bankruptcy.”
Announcing the shutdown Friday, Abbott said the actions of his executive order "are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
California, Texas see record COVID-19 surges, Arizona clamps down (Reuters)
California and Texas both marked record spikes in new COVID-19 infections on Monday, a Reuters tally showed, as Los Angeles reported an “alarming” one-day surge in America’s second-largest city that put it over 100,000 cases.
Los Angeles has become a new epicenter in the pandemic as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge there despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s strict orders requiring bars to close and residents to wear masks in nearly all public spaces.
“The alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations signals that we, as a community, need to take immediate action to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for Los Angeles County, said in a statement announcing the sharp rise… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Trump faces bipartisan calls for answers on Russian-offered bounties (The Hill)
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding answers after a flurry of reports revealed the intelligence community concluded months ago that Russia offered bounties to incentivize Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
The uproar includes a chorus of Republicans who are typically reticent to confront President Trump, who has sought to deflect blame and responsibility by arguing he was not briefed on the intelligence that he claims is not credible.
But congressional Republicans and Democrats — calling the reported Russian operation “egregious” and “disturbing” — say Trump’s explanations only raise more questions that the administration must answer immediately… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
The Bingham Group, LLC is an Austin-based full service lobbying firm representing and advising clients on municipal, legislative, and regulatory matters throughout Texas.
PLEASE RESHARE and FOLLOW:
Twitter #binghamgp
Instagram #binghamgp